Toy parachute and projector therefor



July 3, 1951 E. L. ORR- 2,559,458

TOY PARACHUTE AND PROJECTOR THEREFOR Filed Sept. 4, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG. I

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lnvenror 5 EUGENE LAWSON ORR 35 s Afrorneys July 3, 1951 E. ORR

TOY PARACHUTE AND PROJECTOR THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Shet 2 Filed Sept. 4, 1946 FIG. 6.

Inventor EUGENE LAWSON ORR FIG. 4.

Attorneys Patented July 3, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OF F ICE TOY P-AR'ACHUTE AND PROJECTOR THEREFOR 1 Claim. 1

This invention has to do with aerial toys. It is of that type designed to .be thrown into the air in upward flight. It may be projected in upward flight in any suitable manner, as for example, and as here shown by a catapult. It has for its object the provision of a projectile toy of this type in which after itsinitial upward flight, the toy will reverse and go into a flight .under the influence of ravity, and upon such reversal a collapsed parachute "forming partof the toy, will be released and permitted to expand, whereupon the toy will parachute slowly to the ground.

.In the embodiment here shown this result is accomplished by providing a hollow casing in which a collapsed parachute is initially .stored for the :upward flight; means for automatically ejecting the parachute on reverse or downward flight ;f the toy; means, operable when the toy starts its downward falling night, to trip .and

release the ejecting means to permit it to expel the parachute from the casing; ,-allow 'it to open,

and float the toy to the ground.

In the drawings herewith one physical embodiment of the invention is shown.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a toy ready for launching.

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of a catapult useful for launching the toy, the elastic strip being broken away for compactness of illustration. v

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the casing of the toy Showing the parts housed therein taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a view in side elevation showing the toy reversed with the parachute open ready for descent.

Figure 5 is a sectional view through the casing in reverse position to that shown in Figure 3 with the spring expanded.

Figure 6 i a view in side elevation of a portion of the casing and one of the wings.

Figure 7 is a view to show the manner of launching the toy.

Referring to the drawings by numbers, the same numbers designating the same parts in the several views, a hollow casing ID of any suitable length is provided with a closed end I I, which is the contact end when the toy reverses after launching and falls in downward flight. The casin I0 is preferably round in cross section, although it may take other forms, and has near its end II a fixed disk I2. Projecting through the side of the casing I0 and preferably anchored in disk i2, is a projection [3 to which the end of a launching means, such as .an elastic catapult'strip Hi, when a catapult is of elastic, may be secured in any suitable manner to the handle I6 and to the cord [5' connectedwvith the'ring l5. Ashere shown conventionally, clamps l4 are provided which may be readily disconnected for renewal or replacement of the parts.

Anchored at one end in any suitable manner to the flxed disk I2 is a spring !1. The other end of spring I? is fastened to a movable disk 13 provided with parachute holding means, as,

for example, eye I9, to which the shrouds 2!] of a parachute 2! are attached. Parachute 2| is stored initially in collapsed condition in the open-ended casing it, with the sprin I! compressed between the fixed disks [2 and the movable disk l8, as shown in Figure 3. Disk I8 is held in spring compressing position by means of a flexible connection 22, one end of which passes through a hole in the casing ill and is secured to disk I8, the other end of flexible connection 22 being coupled to a latch 23 pivoted at 24 to the casing 10. The free end of latch 23 is engaged with a trip, here shown as a loop 25 pivotally mounted on casing II). In these positions of the parts, the toy is ready for launching, the spring I? being under compression and held by the latch 23 and trip 25, with the parachute 2| stored in collapsed condition in the openended casing l0.

Secured to the casing iii in any suitable manner, as, for example, by means of the frame 26 having laterally projecting portions 2?, are pivotally mounted wings 28, two being here shown, although more than two wings may be provided, if desired. Wings 28 are connected by elastic pulls 29, rubber cords being one useful form of connection, running from eyes 30 on the wings, through laterally extending projections 3| on the wings, to fixed eyes 32 on the casing It. The elastic connections 29 tend always to elevate the wings to their open or extended positions, as shown in Figure l, but when the toy is launched on its initial upward flight, air pressure on the wings will hold them, against the pull of the elastic connections 29, in the positions shown in Figure 1, parallel to the casing Hi. When the toy reverses for its downward flight (see Figure 4) air pressure on the wings will be reversed, and, under such pressure and the pull of the elastic connections 29, the wings will open and maintain that position during descent of the toy.

In order to release the parachute 2| from its collapsed and stored position in casing ID, the trip 25, which holds latch 23 of the spring holding cord 22, is connected by pull cords 33 running through an eye 34 on casing I0, to the ends of wings 28 at 35. When the Wings 28 swing to open position in the descent of the toy, the cords 33 pull the trip 25, releasing latch 23, cord 22, and disk I8. This releases spring H, which moves disk l8 to the position shown in Figure 5, and ejects the parachute 2|, which then opens and floats the toy to the ground. It will be seen that the toy is in reverse downward flight before the wings open and release the parachute ejecting means, so that the position of the toy is such that the parachute is thrown clear of the toy and danger of entanglement with any part of the toy is eliminated. Following the construction here shown and described, an aerial toy having novel and interesting features can be developed; one which is easily manufactured; which can be made at reasonable cost, and which will stand up under continued use.

A particular construction is disclosed. Mechanical variations of the structure may be made. All such variations as are comprehended by the appended claims, are to be regarded as within the purview of the invention.

I claim:

A toy of the class described comprising a hollow casing having a closed end and an open end, a collapsed parachute in said casing, said casing having a spring anchored at one end thereof, a spring compressing disk axially movable in said casing and coupling the other end of said spring and said parachute, a flexible member connected to said disk to move the same and compress said spring, said flexible member extending exteriorly of said casing, a latch to lock said flexible member and disk in spring compressing position, a trip to hold said latch in locking position, spaced wings, means pivotally connecting said wings to the outer side of said casing, said wings being normally maintained in a collapsed position substantially parallel with the casing, elastic means connecting'the wings intermediate their ends to the closed end of the casing and normally urging the wings to be moved about their pivots to their opened position, the pressure of the air against the wings when the toy is launched on its initial upward flight maintaining the wings substantially parallel against the pull of the elastic means and when the toy reverses its direction in its downward flight, the air pressure on the wings decreasing sufficiently to cause the wings to open, and means operatively connecting the wings to said latch so as to eject the parachute from the casing and automatically open the parachute in the downward flight of the toy.

4 EUGENE L. ORR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number I Name Date 94,119 Kirk Aug. 24, 1869 288,548 7 Clark Nov. 13, 1883 929,759 Foster Aug. 3, 1909 1,%19,041 Gillen June 6, 1922 1,821,172 Baylis Sept. 1, 1931 1,845,613 Marx Feb. 16, 1932 1,890,759 Vogt Dec. 13, 1932 2,105,579 Baylis Jan, 18, 1938 2,178,551 Almgren Nov. 7, 1939 

